Bottle handling mechanism



Filed Feb; 24, 1945' Jil Patented Aug. 26, 1947 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOTTLE HANDLING MECHANISM Eugene Kelly, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, assignor to The Coca-Cola Company, Atlanta, Ga., a corporation of Delaware Application February 24, 1945, Serial No. 579,528

'means of which a substantial number of bottles may be lifted as a group, transported, and redeposited in a new location.

porting and re-depositing device comprises a frame which, when in operation, is normally disposed in a horizontal or nearly horizontal plane, together with handlesrising from the top of the frame and bottle-engaging and lifting elements In the usual case the beverage manufacturer b depending therefrom. The frame of that form Who distributes his product in glass bottles is of the invention selected for illustration comequipped with mechanism for Washing, sterilizprises a rectangular plate Ill and a plurality, six ing, and re-filling such bottles. Ordinarily the in this instance, of transverse stiifenng memempty bottles are received at the bottling plant bers H of angular cross section as shown, to proarranged in groups of one or two dozen bottles, vide maximum strength for a given weight, these each group within a separate case or container, transverse members Il being secured to the upper the individual bottles of each group being dissurface of the plate Ill by means of rivets, bolts, posed at right angles to each other. A convenwelds, or other suitable securing means. Handles tional type of case contains compartments for l2 at the ends of the frame permit the operator the reception of twenty-four bottles, this group to grasp it readily and maneuver it with facility. of bottles being arranged in four rows, with six A bracket i3, secured to the horizontal portions bottles in each row. Naturally, to facilitate washof two adjacent angles ll, comprises an anchoring, sterilization, and re-filling it is highly desiring fixture to which the lower end of a suspendable that means be provided for lifting the bottles ing chain or cable 14 may be affixed. While the from the container or case as a group rather device is lightly constructed, its weight, together than singly. Bottle lifting devices having the with that of a group of bottles, is substantial and capacity to engage the necks of a substantial it is desirable to provide its operator with counnumber of bottles simultaneously, so that the terbalancing mechanism for carrying in large entire group may be lifted, have heretofore been part the weight of the device and suspended proposed and certain devices of this nature have bottles during the operation of bottle transfer. been placed in use. The suspending or counterbalancing mechanism,

The purpose of the present invention is to however, comprises no portion of the invention provide a simpler and more effective type of and is not disclosed in detail. device of this general nature, less expensive to The actua] bottle-engaging means of the deconstruct and maintain, less complicated and vice comprises a plurality of bottle contacting cumbersome in use, and less likely to injure the elements disposed below the plane of the frame. bottles being lifted and transported than other Each of these elements is, in the form of the indevices which have been heretofore designed or vention disclosed, approximately L-shaped in secsuggested for the same purpose. tion, including a depending stem part |5 and a One embodiment of the invention will be distransversely disposed terminal portion IB, all of closed by way of example, but it will be underthe terminal portions |6 of all of the lifting elestood by one skilled in the art that, in adapting ments being disposed in a plane substantially the same for the handling of bottles which differ parallel to the plane of the plate IH. Preferably in shape, size and weight, minor changes may the bottle-engaging elements are integral with be made without departing from the teachings of the frame IO, comprising downturned flange-like the invention. parts struck from the body of the plate, the aper- In the drawings: tures created in the plate by this operation .being Figure 1 is a perspective view of a preferred indicated at lOa. These elements, except for form of the bottle handling device; those at the ends, are of equal width and are Figure 2 is a front elevation of the same; equidistantly spaced apart longitudinally of the Figura 3 is a section on line 3-3 of Fgure 2, plate, as disclosed clearly in Figure 2 of the drawshowing also the upper ends or necks of certain ings, and likewise in Figure 1. VDownturned bottles depending therefrom; and fianges lb at the ends of the plate Ill serve as Figure 4 is a similar view showing the device guards, preventing the terminal ends IB of the slightly inclined, in a position which it often outermost bottle-engaging elements from acciassumes when being manipulated, showing the dentally catching the clothing of the operator or bottles vertically depending from the device notany other object. Each two adjacent battle-supwithstanding its inclination. porting elements together define a bottle neck- 56 receiving notch, the space between the terminal Generally speaking, the bottle-lifting, transportions IB being greater than the diameter of the neck and of a bottle to be supported, but less than the diameter of the bulbous portion B adjacent the mouth of the bottle. A bottle may, therefore, be supported in each such notch upon the adiacent edges of adjacent terminal portions IE of the lifting elements. When so supported each bottle is restrained against movement in one direction longitudinally of the bottle-receiving notch because of contact of the bulbous portion B of the bottle with the vertically extending adjacent edges of lifting element portions or stems |5. Each bottle engaged by two lifting elements is thus pivotally suspended from the bottle-lifting device when the device is lifted and, if the device is slightly inclined when in operation, as when it is moved to the position in -which it is shown in Figure 4, the bottles remain vertically suspended and parallel so that they do not strike or clash against each other while being thus handled.

The lifting device disclosed has a capacity of twenty-four bottles, the bottle-receiving notches being arranged in four rows of six each, and such a group may be engaged prior to lifting by lowering the device toward the bottles until each bottle-receiving notch is directly in rear of the bottle which it is intended to receive. The device is then moved horizontally forward so that the terminal portions HS of the lifting elements move into position below the several bulbous neck portions B of the bottles, after which the frame may be lifted, the several bottles engaged, and the group moved to a point of disposal, for instance to the conveyor of a washing apparatus. After the bottoms of the bottles have been placed on a support the device may be lowered, retracted, and the bottles disengaged.

The device is of great simplicity, but operates with efficiency to effectively transfer bottles without marring them in any way, is light in weight and has no moving parts. It is of such rugged construction that it is not rendered inoperative wholly or in part by the usual impacts to which it is subjected when in use.

'Having vthus described the invention, what is elaimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is: i

1. A device for simultaneously lifting and transporting the bottles of a group of bottles arranged in parallel rows and the tops of which are bulbous and disposed approximately in a plane, Said device comprising a frame and a plurality of bottle engaging elements projecting downwardly therefrom, said elements being disposed in a plurality of parallel rows, each two adjacent elements being formed and spaced to define a notch adapted to receive with a loose fit the neck of a bottle which is disposed substantially normally to said frame, to engage at two diametrically spaced points the undersurface of the bulbous top of a bottle so positioned and to also engage the side surface of such bulbous top to limit movement of the bottle top along said elements in a direction away from the mouth of the bottle neck receiving notch, each such element being generally L-shaped with one leg portion thereof disposed in a parallelism with the frame and the second leg portion constituting a connection between the first leg portion and the frame, the first mentioned leg portion being disposed to engage the undersurface of a bulbous bottle top and the second mentioned leg portion the side surface of such a bottle top, said device being adapted to be moved in a plane parallel to the plane in which the tops of a plurality of rows of bottles are approximately disposed, to cause the neck of each such bottle to enter a notch between two elements, and to be thereafter elevated to engage the tops of all such bottles and lift the bottles as a group for transportation, the bottles being pivotally suspended so as to hang vertically despite minor tilting movements of the frame during transportation.

2. The device for simultaneously lifting and transporting bottles described in claim 1 in which the frame includes a rectangular plate and each bottle engaging element comprises a rectangular strip one end of which is integral with that plate, the second mentioned leg portion being disposed at right angles to the plate and the first mentioned leg portion being disposed parallel to the plate.

EUGENE KELLY.

BEFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2264,903 Kruea Dec. 2, 1941. 2,276,756 Agrillo Mar. 17, 1942 2310,594 Yoigtritter Nov. 10, 1942 

